Empire Baffin was a 6,978 ton cargo ship

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 which was built by Lithgows Ltd

Lithgows

Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and...

, Port Glasgow

Port Glasgow

Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...

 in 1941 for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). She was commissioned in 1943 as HMS Sancroft, being converted into a cable laying ship for Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...

. She was returned to the MoWT in 1946 and subsequently sold and renamed Clintonia. A final change of ownership in 1960 saw her renamed Aspis and she was scrapped in 1963.

History

Empire Baffin was built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow as yard number 958. She was launched on 28 August 1941 and completed in October 1941. She was operated under the management of J Robinson & Sons, North Shields

North Shields

North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in North East England...

.

War service

Empire Baffin was a member of a number of convoys during the Second World War.

PQ 2

Convoy PQ 2 sailed from Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 on 13 October 1941 and arrived at Archangel on 30 October. Empire Baffin joined from Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

 on 17 October.

QP 3

Convoy QP 3 sailed from Archangel on 27 November 1941 and dispersed on 3 December. Empire Baffin was carrying a cargo of magnasite bound for the Tees

River Tees

The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...

.

PQ 11

Convoy PQ 11

Convoy PQ 11

Convoy PQ 11 was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II.It sailed in February 1942 and arrived in Murmansk without loss.-Ships:...

 sailed from Kirkness on 14 February 1942 and arrived at Murmansk

Murmansk

Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

 on 22 February.

QP 9

Convoy QP 9 sailed from the Kola Inlet

Kola Peninsula

The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...

 on 21 March 1942 and arrived at Reykjavík on 3 April. Empire Baffin was carrying a cargo of Chloride of Potassium

Potassium chloride

The chemical compound potassium chloride is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. In its pure state, it is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance, with a crystal structure that cleaves easily in three directions. Potassium chloride crystals are...

 bound for Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

.

UR 23

Convoy UR 23 sailed from Loch Ewe on 8 May 1942 and arrived at Reykjavík on 12 May.

PQ 16

Convoy PQ 16 sailed from Reykjavík

Reykjavík

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

 on 21 May 1942 and arrived at Murmansk on 30 May. Empire Baffin was attacked by German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 aircraft, which bombed her scoring several near misses. Her propeller

Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...

, driveshaft and bearings were damaged and she developed a leak in her stern gland. The Chief Engineer had to spend three days and nights in the shaft tunnel tending to the bearings. Empire Baffin was repaired and returned to service.

QP 13U

Convoy QP 13U sailed from Archangel on 26 June 1942 and arrived at Reykjavík on 7 July. Empire Baffin was bound for the Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

.

PQ 18
Convoy PQ 18 sailed from Loch Ewe on 2 September 1942 and arrived at Archangel on 21 September.

QP 15

Convoy QP 15 sailed from the Kola Inlet on 17 November 1942 and arrived at Loch Ewe on 30 November.

JW 52

Convoy JW 52
sailed from Liverpool on 17 January 1943 and arrived at the Kola Inlet on 27 January.

JW 53

Convoy JW 33 sailed from Loch Ewe

Loch Ewe

Loch Ewe is a sea loch in the region of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement...

 on 15 February 1943 and arrived at the Kola Inlet on or about the 27 February. Empire Baffin had to return to Loch Ewe due to being damaged in severe weather.

SC 141

Convoy SC 151 sailed from Halifax Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 on 3 September 1943 and arrived at Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 on 17 September. Empire Baffin was carrying a general cargo bound for London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Empire Baffin was taken over by the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 and converted by Green & Silley Weir Ltd, London to a cable laying ship for Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto

Operation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...

, and commissioned as HMS Sancroft. She was used in the support of Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

. Those killed whilst serving on Empire Baffin during the war are commemorated at the Tower Hill Memorial

Tower Hill Memorial

The Tower Hill Memorial is a national war memorial on the south side of Trinity Square Gardens, just to the north of the Tower of London. It commemorates those from the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who died during both world wars and have "no grave but the sea".The First World War memorial...

, London.

Postwar

In 1946, HMS Sancroft reverted back to the MoWT and regained her Empire Baffin name. Later that year, she was sold to Stag Line Ltd, North Shields still under the management of J Robinson & Sons. She was the fifth Stag Line ship to bear the name Clintonia. She was purchased at a cost of £30,000 and converted back to a cargo ship and also from coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 to oil fuel at a cost of £137,911. On 10 December 1959, Clintonia was sold to Alcestis Shipping Co. SA, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 for £62,500. She was renamed Apsis She was operated under the management of Faros Shipping Co Ltd, London.. Apsis served until 1963 when she was sold for scrap. She arrived at Yokosuka

Yokosuka, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 419,067 and a population density of 4,160 people per km². It covered an area of 100.62 km²...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in December 1963 for scrapping.

Official number and code letters

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers

IMO ship identification number

The IMO ship identification number is made of the three letters "IMO" followed by the seven-digit number assigned to all ships by IHS Fairplay when constructed. This is a unique seven digit number that is assigned to propelled, sea-going merchant ships of 100 GT and above...

.

Empire Baffin had the UK Official Number 168968 and used the Code Letters

Code letters

Code letters were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of radio, code letters were also used as radio callsigns.-History:...

BCQR.